Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree
by Nehszriah
Summary: I love songs from WWII and One Piece. UsoppKaya in particular. Glenn Miller rox my sox. Trust me, it's better than the summary.


Jeezum crowe. -pants- Longest songfic by the Nehszriah... ever! -sighs- Hopefully this isn't as sappy as the last Usopp/Kaya one I wrote, though I really don't like the ending. It hates me. I do not own _One Piece _or crazy Glenn Miller songs from around WWII that the reader's great-grandparents might know. Huzzah for big band music! Why can't more of it have words? Why can't more people like it? IT'S NOT DEPRESSING MUSIC! -inaudible squeak-

* * *

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree

_Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me_

_Anyone else but me, anyone else but me, no, no, no_

_Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me_

'_Till I come marching home_

"Kaya-san! Kaya-san! Kaya-san! Come play with us!" yelled three small children as they ran up to a blonde young woman. She was sitting underneath a large tree with lovely white blossoms that was just on the edge of the forest. Her nose was in a book, eyes fluttering over the pages in order to take in the information.

"Not now if you don't mind," she giggled, putting down her book. "I am studying right now. Maybe we can later."

"...but right now is special!" said the boy with black hair. He pumped his fists through the air, a grin plastered on his face. "We have to celebrate!"

"Really?" Kaya asked, shifting so that she was on her knees. "What is there to celebrate?"

"We just got back from the post office!" squealed the bespectacled boy.

"What on earth is so glorious about the post office?"

"This!" the three boys cried out together as the tallest boy held out a piece of paper. Kaya gasped.

"That's Luffy-san!" she squeaked, putting her hand over her mouth in shock. She gingerly took the piece of paper and looked it over. "Wow. Thirty million berri. What did he do that made him so wanted?"

"I don't know! But that's not why we have to celebrate!" smiled the redhead. "Look closely at the picture Kaya-san!"

Kaya looked at the picture. Yes, there was Luffy, complete with a large smile and straw hat. He was waving, making the picture seem incredibly silly. Then she saw something in the bottom corner of the picture that made her eyes grow wide.

"Usopp-san?"

"Yeah! Usopp-sama's famous! Usopp-sama's famous!" the young boys chanted. They began dancing around in a circle, singing praises to their former captain. Kaya laughed at the display of merriment. The village liar was famous alright.

_Don't go walking down lover's lane with anyone else but me_

_Anyone else but me, anyone else but me, no, no, no_

_Don't go walking down lover's lane with anyone else but me_

'_Till I come marching home_

"Kaya-san!" called out Merry. He walked though the mansion, looking around for the young woman. She had become harder and harder to find since she was cured of her illness a year and a half ago, wandering around the mansion and grounds with her medicinal books and sometimes even going to study by the seaside.

"What is it Merry?" Kaya's voice answered. Merry stopped in the hallway and opened a door. There he saw Kaya, sitting by a window and reading her book by the warm light of the late summer sun.

"Of all the places to find you, I would have never thought you would be in your room Kaya-san!" Merry sighed. "There is a gentleman here to see you."

"Not another one!" Kaya whined. "Merry, please send him away."

"...but Kaya-san..."

"Merry, I don't want to be mean, but all the gentlemen that have been coming lately are only here to see if they can win the heart of some spoiled little rich girl and I am not about to become that girl."

"Are you sure about this Kaya-san?"

"Of course," she said softly, looking down at the book guiltily. "Please tell him I am preoccupied and cannot see him."

"What if he asks for a time to return?"

"Give him none." She looked up at Merry with a sincerely regretful face. It hurt her to turn down so many suitors without even looking at them. The village began to talk recently about her refusal of the young men, saying that it was the first step to becoming an old maid. The gossip hurt more than anything. Merry bowed slightly and left the room, leaving Kaya to stare out the window and morosely gaze in the direction of the water. She could not see it, but she knew that the sea was there. It was always there as a constant reminder as to why she never saw any suitors. He was still out there and she was not about to give up.

_I just got word from the guy who heard from the guy next door to me_

_The girl he met just loves to pet and she'll pet you to a tee_

_So, don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me_

'_Till I come marching home_

It was a very happy day at Syrup Village. The sun was shining, the sea brought a cool, light breeze onto the area and there were more than just a few patrons at the wedding who were slightly over-inebriated. Kaya sat at her chair at the party table and quietly sipped her soda as she watched the humorous sight of grown men she had known for years begin to prance around like fools.

"I'm sorry everyone is so strange today," said a voice. Kaya looked up to see the bride standing next to her. She smiled at the sight of her newlywed friend and stood up to give her a hug.

"Oh, I don't mind Naomi-chan," Kaya smiled. "I am just honored that you wanted me as a bridesmaid. It does not matter that people are acting foolish due to the grog. Everyone does after a while."

"I'm just wondering though, when we're all going to get drunk by account of you my dear," Naomi asked. Kaya's face turned red as she sheepishly looked at her friend.

"Do you have to bring that up?" she blushed.

"Yes! I'm only looking out for you! I don't want my good friend to become an old maid!"

"I am not going to be an old maid!" Kaya gasped, horrified at the thought.

"Then why have you turned down suitors before you even see them?"

Kaya sighed, knowing Naomi was at least grounded firmly in her stand. It was a bit obvious she was being picky.

"Are you still hung up on that pirate Kaya-chan?"

"What...?"

"That guy who wandered around, bothering everyone with his lies. Aesop, was it?"

"Usopp."

"Yeah, him." Naomi's eyes grew wide with laughter. "You _are _waiting for him, aren't you?"

"So what if I am," Kaya tried to rationalize. "This just means that everything is going to be twice as sweet if we wait."

"Uh, huh," Naomi said, clearly unimpressed. "You just keep on saying that. I don't want to knock on your choice, but he's still a pirate and pirates, most often, have a woman on every island, whether they say they do or not."

"Then I'm glad that I at least see the virtue in him," Kaya grumbled. She did not like it at all when people brought up the fact Usopp was a pirate and then compared him to the cutthroat thieves that most hear about. If only the other villagers knew him for who he really was.

_Don't give up with those lips of yours to anyone else but me_

_Anyone else but me, anyone else but me, no, no, no_

_Watch the girls on the foreign shores, you'll have to report to me_

_When you come marching home_

"Alright Usopp, why don't you ever have any fun like the rest of us?" Zoro asked, blinking heavily from his grog. The sniper raised his eyebrow at the comment at the swordsman sitting across from him in the tavern booth.

"What do you mean by fun?"

"You know, _girls_," Sanji added, inebriated on an equal level to that of Zoro. "I understand why Luffy isn't really into girls..."

"He's just a kid, inside and out" Zoro cut in.

"My thought exactly, marimo-head."

"You guys, I'm the same age as Luffy."

"No, you're older."

"Sanji, I'm only a month older. That is not all that special."

"So? You should have fun when we're in pirate ports!"

"What kind of fun?" Usopp asked, afraid of exactly what their answer might be.

"Getting laid!" both Zoro and Sanji said together, banging their fists on the table in unison. The two then glared evilly at one another and growled.

"Shit-cook."

"Crap-swordsman."

"You guys! Don't start a fight right now!" Usopp panicked.

"...and why not?" Zoro asked. "It's not like the Marines have any sense of order around here."

"I know... but I just don't want to anger anyone." The young sniper glanced around the tavern to observe the other pirates milling about. So many of them seemed rather large and dangerous, even though his nakama were probably much scarier than anyone else around. Sure Sanji and Zoro had dreams to chase, but Usopp felt like he had more than just a dream and he by no means wanted to disappoint her by dying in a bar fight. Ah, the dangers of being a proud warrior of the sea.

_Don't hold anyone on your knee, you better be true to me_

_Better be true to me, better be true to me_

_Don't hold anyone on your knee, you're getting the third degree_

_When you come marching home_

"You sure you want to do this Usopp?" Luffy asked, peering over the side of the ship as Usopp made his way into the longboat. "Being a pirate is your dream!"

"I'm positive!" the sniper grinned as he looked up at his captain and gave him a thumbs-up sign. "Just give me three months minimum!"

"Good luck Usopp!" Chopper cheered. The little reindeer waved happily as Usopp pushed off from the side of the ship and began rowing towards shore.

_Why didn't anyone else see me off?_ he wondered sadly. _Then again, I'm not sure if anyone is going to miss me other than Chopper and Luffy. Oh well. It will be good to see the old village again._ He kept on rowing until the longboat was caught on a shoal and Usopp had to get out of the boat and drag it up to the shoreline.

The forest surrounding Syrup Village was the same as when he had left it. Green, leafy, forest-y trees. Man, were his descriptive skills sub-par.

"Usopp-sama! Usopp-sama!" called out some voices. Usopp looked up at the cliff to see Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman standing at the edge of the escarpment.

"What are you guys up to?" the pirate laughed as he ran up the nearby and much more tolerable slope to get up to the cliff.

"We just got back here from preforming our daily ritual," Tamanegi grinned.

"What kind of ritual is that?"

"Screaming about the pirates! We've done it ever since you left two years ago!" Ninjin said happily.

"Really?" Usopp asked, admiring the three youths that were determined to have his legacy live on.

"What kind of stories do you have for us?" Piiman asked excitedly. "You tell great stories! What kind of adventures have you been having!"

"Very exciting ones!" Usopp announced proudly. "I've traveled across vast ocean expanses, across deserts, even in the sky!"

"That's so cool!" the boys cheered.

"You bet!" Usopp laughed.

"I bet you've even gotten yourself a woman, huh Usopp-sama?" Ninjin snickered, elbowing his hero. Usopp's face turned red.

"Umm... no," he admitted. "Not yet."

"...but aren't pirates supposed to have a woman for every island?" Tamanegi pondered. "That's what everyone in the village says."

"They do...?"

"Yeah. That's what they keep on telling Kaya-san!" Piiman piped in.

"You don't think that she actually believes that, do you?" Usopp asked, his brow beginning to sweat.

"I don't think so," Piiman said, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Why don't you ask me yourself?" said a voice. All four males jumped at the sound of the sweet tone.

"Kaya...?"

_You're on your own where the is no phone and I can't keep tab on you_

_Be fair to me, I'll guarantee, this is one thing that I'll do_

_I won't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but you_

'_Till you come marching home_

"Kaya!" Usopp exclaimed when he realized that it was really Kaya. He turned to the direction of the voice and saw the petite blonde standing about six meters away, leaning up against the tree and wearing a sly smile.

"Kaya-san, what are you doing here?" Ninjin asked.

"Can't I come to the seaside when I want to?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you usually come in the afternoon," Tamanegi observed.

"It's a change of pace. Besides, I thought I saw a Jolly Roger out at sea earlier. Seems like I was right." She looked over at Usopp, whose knees were shaking more violently than she had ever seen them.

"Come on Usopp-sama! Don't you have anything to say?" Piiman asked, pulling on Usopp's arm.

"Yeah! Say something!" Tamanegi and Ninjin said.

Usopp gulped and tried swallowing his fear. Why now? In front of his old crew? Why did he have to have so much fear to swallow? Taking a deep breath, he began to walk over to Kaya until they were an arm's length apart. He held out his hand and grinned nervously.

"H-Hi th-there K-Kaya," he stuttered. "H-How are y-you?"

Kaya looked at Usopp and smiled sweetly. She walked right past his outstretched hand and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a big hug.

"Just fine," she sighed softly into his chest as he cautiously succumbed to the embrace and hugged her as well.

"Eww!" the young boys exclaimed, making fake retching noises at the affection the couple were showing. Usopp threw himself away from Kaya and whipped out his slingshot and a few lead stars.

"Bug off! Go on!" he yelled, chasing the boys away from the small clearing they were standing in. Kaya laughed as Usopp came back to the clearing, chest puffed out triumphantly.

"Oh, I've missed having you around Usopp," Kaya said, trying to suppress her laughter. "Things like that just don't really happen around here with you gone."

"Then you'll be happy to hear what I have to say," Usopp said. He saw Kaya's face light up with joy. The girl ran up to him and jumped up into his arms, landing a kiss on his lips.

"Usopp, I am so glad to hear that!" she exclaimed, bringing her face away. The sniper was at a bit of a loss about what to do. He looked at Kaya, unsure about what to say. So she wanted him to come back as well? That was beyond great. This length of extended shore leave would be beneficial after all.

_Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me_

_I know the apple tree is reserved for you and me_

_I'll be true 'till you come marching home_


End file.
